Weather Watch: Vale cold snap gives way to milder conditions

An exceptional spell of cold weather sent the Aylesbury Vale back into the depths of winter last week despite entering meteorological spring on March 1.

The unusually intense cold was accompanied by strong easterly winds which drove wind chill temperatures down into the minus double digits for days on end.

The frigid Russian airmass ensured temperatures struggled to rise much above -3C by day with minimum temperatures overnight falling to -7C widely.

Areas of snow pushing inland from the North Sea coated the area in very fine powder snow.

As winds strengthened further towards the end of last week, the dry quality of the snow allowed impressive drifts to form.

To quantify the severity of the cold further, the Central England temperature (representing the average temperature across England) on February 28 was in fact the coldest 28th of February since records began.

Temperatures across the Vale of Aylesbury did not manage to climb above 0C for at least 72 hours; an astonishing length of time for late February/early March.

For those fed-up with the cold weather, a milder outlook is on the horizon.

Temperatures are likely to be slightly below average for the time of the year for the remainder of the working week but it will still feel significantly warmer than of late.

A pulse of heavy rain moving in from the south-west on Friday is likely to introduce warm air heading into the weekend.

Maximum temperatures may creep into the low teens on Saturday and Sunday.

However, the less cold interlude opens the door to further unsettled weather spreading in from the Atlantic.